"Their little rampage dealt some serious damage to this base. I used flame retardant nano combat armored walls to trap them then used sleeping gas to knock them out" 

Ryuuichi's eyes snapped open at the voice. He was lying on his left side, weapons were taken away. He could still feel the weight of the ring around his neck, which meant that it wasn't taken away other than those A-Ranks one. In front of him was an unconscious Hibari. He silently thanked whoever that had moved them had his back facing them, which meant that he does not need to fake asleep. His eyes brighten a little at the familiar voice. 

"Try anything funny, however, and I'll use a different kind of gas on them." One of the Cervello was holding a remote. "Their lives will end with a press of this button." Someone seriously need to give this guy an Oscar. If there wasn't anyone who will, then Ryuuichi would be glad to do it.

"If you wish to save their lives, do as I say, Sawada Tsunayoshi" Tsuna, without any choice, grudgingly lowered his fist and difused the flame on his fist. And then, a type of gas were sprayed. "Don't panic. I merely neutralized the sleeping gas. Look closely. They should all wake up soon" Ryuuichi took that as the cue, and sprung up, well, not literally. He merely pushed himself up to a sitting position, leaning against a hand. 

He and Shoichi briefly locked gaze for a while. He could tell that the man's at the edge as he gave him a mischievious look and smirk. The others slowly started to wake up with Gokudera grunting first. Ryuuichi gaze at them, slightly worried, but much more amused at the situation in hand.

"Guys!" He, and the others turned towards where Tsuna was. "Th-that's... Juudaime!" Gokudera had rushed towards his direction not knowing that he was caged inside a capsule, and hit himself in the face. Ryuuichi snickered at the sight. 

"W-what is this?"

"We've been captured" Gokudera hit the wall countless of times, trying to break it but it was a futile attempt. "You're one of the Cervello women! Why are you here?!"

Shoichi turned around, keeping the boss facade that Ryuuichi could easily see through. "Your lives are in our hands. You better not try anything funny." 

"We need to talk. Pipe down in there, would you?" 

"Talk?! Don't give up that crap after locking us up!" Gokudera trust his fist down to where his box weapon should be, but found that it wasn't there. "What? My box.. And my ring" Ryuuichi placed a firm hand onto his shoulder but said nothing as he locked eyes with Shoichi again, the smirk still present. 

Shoichi had ignored it and closed his eyes. "There's no point in resisting. Your ring and box weapon.. Have all being confiscated" His open palm held their rings, glinting. Everyone, san Ryuuichi, were shocked. "H-how can this be... At this rate.." Kusakabe gasped.

"Sawada!" Lal Mirch yelled, voice strained. "Don't worry about us! Do it!" Ryuuichi looked to the brunette. "Destroy the device with your own hands!" Gokudera continued, telling Tsuna to destroy it as it might bring them back to the past. "You can't" Ryuuichi slapped his own mouth as the words slipped out of it. He and Chrome, who had said the same thing, exchanged a look.

"B-but Ryuuichi!"

The said teen shook his head. He kept his gaze on the brunette and ignored the bomber's protest, and shook his head again.

Tsuna frowned when his eyes met darker brown ones. They were telling to not do it. Not to mention that his Hyper intuition had been ringing this whole time, as if something was amissed. He broke the eye contact and turned towards the round device that had been opened, and gasped. 

Inside, their 10 years later selves were there. All in the device. "The future versions..." Horrified, he muttered out. When Shoichi had said that it was a hologram, it didn't do any better to what he was feeling. He felt his mind spinning at the explanation. Questions ran about in his mind, why would their future selves be in it, rather than in the past like what would usually happen, not to mention inside the enemies' technology? And, if he were to destroy it... No. He refused to even think what would happen if he did. 

And then, everything was clear. Why were they even be in the future. It was all Shoichi's plan. His flame faded off. "But why? Why would you go so far to bring us to this time? Answer me!" 

"You want to know? Of course you do." Shoichi said in a rather exhausted tone. He continued despite the Cervello's protest. "It's quite simple. For Byakuran-san to take over the world and rebuild a new one, he needed the Vongola Rings" 

"There are many powerful rings in this world, but the Vongola and Mare Rings are in a class of their own. The seven Vongola Ring, the seven Mare Ring. In addition, there are seven Arcobaleno pacifiers. These sets of seven, totaling twenty-one, are known as the Tri-Ni-Sette. And the one which make up the Tri-Ni-Sette was the foundation of this world." 

All that information were hard to digest. They couldn't believed what they've heard, but somehow, they knew what the man had said were the truth. Though, the Arcobaleno, and Ryuuichi, knew that it was the truth, and wouldn't deny it. But despite that, the Arcobaleno only knew to a certain extend, unlike Ryuuichi. 

The teen sighed, hoping that they could cut the chase and stop with all the acting, mainly Shoichi's. He was getting a tad bit bored. He watched as Shoichi turned around and left the Cervello to work. 

"Sawada Tsunayoshi. Hand over the Sky Ring or you'll be bidding your guardians farewell. They won't be able to survive one breath of this gas."

"Wait, Irie" Reborn called out, stopping the said man's track. "We're not finished here. Something in your story sounded off" Shoichi simply scoffed and continued on.

"Stop trying to buy yourself time. It's useless. You have no choice." One of the Cervello said. "We're not negotiating here. This is an order" 

"Hand over the Sky Ring before we count down from three. Or, we'll kill all your guardians" Tsuna frantically pulled off his mittens. "W-wait! Hold on! Aren't you Cervello?! Why are you on Milliefiore's side?! Tell me" 

They ignored the brunette and started counting down. The others had told Tsuna not to, and leave them behind but how could he? How could he leave his comrades, his friends, behind? No, he couldn't, and never will. Not after all they had been through. "One" He gasped, watched as the Cervello moved to press the button.

But, she didn't. She groaned, hand slacken on the remote as it fell down. "Irie...Sama..?" They both fell down. The man behind them were holding a gun, which were smoking. There weren't any sound of gunshots, which meant that it was attached with a silencer.

"Don't think too badly of me. I'm just putting you to sleep for now" Everyone stared in silence, wondering what had just happen. Shoichi dropped the gun and adjusted his uniform, complaining that it was hot. He ruffled his hair, ped his jacket and threw it aside. "I'm drained. You and your family had me worried there, Sawada Tsunayoshi-kun." 

His knees shook as he released all his tension, and promptly fell on his . "My knees are buckling now that all that tension's gone.... I'm impressed that you made it all the way here. I've been waiting for you. I'm actually on your side."

That, certainly was a surprise. Ryuuichi laughed at all their face, making all of them look at him. He continued snickering as he gestured them to continue whatever they wanted to say. 

"O-on our side?"

"Uh-huh, yep.. I'm not good at this kind of thing.. It's so formal.." Ryuuichi chuckled at that. "On the contrary, Shoichi, you did great" He chuckled again when Shoichi rolled his eyes and flushed a little. 

"R-ryuuichi?! What are you talking about!?" Gokudera asked. Ryuuichi pushed himself up and met the bomber's eyes. He could see that the bomber was starting to doubt him. He only simply waved, not caring if that had made it worst. "Right, right. Before any of you jump into any stupid conclusion, why don't you all listen to Shoichi first"

They snapped their heads back towards the man, glowering at him. "Ryuuichi-kun!" The said teen flashed him a mischievous grin. He ruffled his hair harder. "My actions were always known by Byakuran-san through my subordinates and by constant camera suveillance. But now that you've messed this place up, I can finally talk to you openly. I've been waiting a long time for this moment."

"It was our goal to meet you in this place under these circumstances."

"Our... Goal?" 

Shoichi pushed himself up, standing again. "It's true that the Milliefiore brought you to this time to take the Vongola Rings. It's no surprised then, that you're all here with them." 

"So you're after the Vongola Rings!" Ryuuichi had tapped on Gokudera's shoulder to get his attention but was swatted off. He saw the distrust inside the bomber's eyes. He simply sighed and shoved his hands into his pocket. He wasn't going to blame the bomber though, it was natural for him to be like that anyway. Not to mention that he had trust issues.

"If I simply wanted to take them, I wouldn't have needed to summon you here to the Merone Base." By summon, he meant those letters. The letters that TYL Gokudera had in his suitcase. "I devised this plan without Milliefiore's knowledge to provoke you into chasing me to this place."

"In order to train you all... To become stronger. I truly regret doing all those terrible things. But it was the only way to help you quickly improve, in preparation for the incoming battles!" 

"I'm not your true enemy!" Of course, they wouldn't believe him, especially Gokudera and Lal Mirch. "W-wait. Give it some more thought! If I wanted to eliminate you, I could've done it sooner! Even if Milliefiore had lower their defenses, there's a world difference between your strength and theirs! You couldn't possibly win! ARGH- Ryuuichi-kun! Help me!"

Reborn turned towards the said teen. "Ryuuichi." Dark brown orbs met black ones. Ryuuichi briefly nodded and blinked, saying that it was all the truth.

"He's right"

"You all knew that we had no chance if we fought them head on. That's why we were desperate enough to try sneaking into this Milliefiore Base." Reborn explained. "And then, you went through many battles and gained strength, before reaching this destination. It's just as he says" 

"You were brought in a few at a time, instead of all at once, so your future selves could provide guidance. Once you arrived, I could've mobilized the base earlier and captured you. But then, you wouldn't have gained any experience. I slowed it down on purpose!"

"That's not all. Do you know why I-Pin, Sasawaga Kyoko and Miura Haru were brought from the past as well? People become stronger when they have something to protect. It was therefore determined that they were necessary" Ryuuichi raised an eyebrow. He had the feeling that he was forgotten, again. Well, it wasn't unexpected though. He wasn't originally in this story anyway.

He whistled in amusement when Tsuna rushed forward and grabbed Shoichi by his shoulder. "What.. What if something happens to Kyoko-chan and the others..? And for such a stupid reason!" The brunette grabbed the man's shirt, anger burning. "And not just them! Yamamoto, Gokudera-kun, Lal, and everyone else could've died in this battle before they ever 'developed'."

"That was the risk we simply had to take" Shoichi then burst. "I've been trying my best! It's been so hard with all these unexpected obstacles! This problem isn't as simple as you think! And you know, your future self was involved in devising this plan too, Tsunayoshi-kun!"

Ryuuichi sighed. There you go. "It was imperative that the plan was not be leaked to the Milliefiore, so it was a secret between myself, the future you, the future Hibari Kyouya, and the future Ryuuichi-kun!" He twitched at that. So, his older self did jumped right in, somehow.

"So when you said 'Our' goal, you were referring to..." 

"Yes. That's was why the future Hibari was able to predict our ambush. The future you was uneasy about getting innocent allies involved. But in the end, you accepted that it was necessary for the past you to improve." Tsuna slowly released Shoichi, eyes wide. "N-no way.. I.. I... I brought everyone to this era... To such a dangerous place..."

"You didn't. At least, not everyone." Ryuuichi spoke up. He was staring into spaces, not meeting the other's eyes. "Give Shoichi a rest. He will collapse if you guys keep it up-" He was suddenly grabbed by the collar of his shirt and his face were inches away from Gokudera's. 

"Dammit Drake. Don't tell me that you're with Milliefiore!" Gokudera himself couldn't believe what he was doing. Deep inside, he knew that the teen wasn't their enemy, or at least, he believed so. There's no way he could be, but given the situation and what he had said. 'Please tell me you're not... Drake..!'

Ryuuichi huffed. "I'm not." He gently pried the bomber's hand off and adjusted his shirt. "Can't you tell? Things were bad enough for the future Tsunayoshi to do this, and not to mention how hard that dude-" He pointed at Shoichi. "-was trying to convince you guys to believe him to the point of snapping and in the verge of hyperventilating, wasn't that enough?" ("I'm not going to hyperventilate, Ryuuichi-kun!!" "Sure, sure")

"You guys were brought here, to the future, to change everything. If you weren't, your future selves might be killed, and that wouldn't change the past. No, we, who are all from the past, will walk down into this future, and suffer the same thing. Understand now?" 

"Yes! Also, if we screw up, the entire human race will be in danger!" Shoichi's voice cracked. ".. I think we should believe them.." Reborn spoke up. "His explanation has answered all of the questions I had." 'But not you, Ryuuichi.' (The teen could literally hear the unspoken words and sweated)

"By the way, your enemy will be Byakuran-san!" 

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"Shoichi" The said man blinked and turned around when a fist came in contact lightly with his forehead. "Ouch!" He stumbled backward and rubbed his forehead. "R-ryuuichi-kun! What was that for?!" 

Ryuuichi, who were released out of the capsule along with the others and were helping those injured and still unconscious one, leaned on one foot, one hand on his hip. ".......... No particular reasons." "What?!" The others watched, dumbfounded at their interaction. "I just felt like it"

The teen shoved both of his hand into his pocket and walked towards a wall to lean on. When he passed by the man, he whispered. "I'll ask you later." He was half listening to the other's conversation, half not. 

The Varia, in Italy, had won their fight with one of their generals, as expected. Well, all thanks to Xanxus anyway. Ryuuichi closed his eyes and tried to recall what would happen next. If his hazy memories serve him alright, Ryohei would be poof-ed here, along with the Vongola Sun Ring. Yamamoto then would finally regain conscious, and Gokudera would, as usual, fight with the boxer.

He sighed when he was right about it. When he shifted a little, he felt the cold metal shifting under his shirt. He pulled it out and inspected it. There weren't any changes in the ring. The gap in the middle were still there, the words-. He scrunched his eyebrows and brought the ring closer to his eyes.

He had somewhat forgotten about it when he had completed the ring, and had not really look at it closely until now. He could comprehend those words, but couldn't understand them. It was in some sort of language that Ryuuichi didn't know. He couldn't recognize it either. 

At the edge of the gap, there were something on it that wasn't there when he first received the ring. It looked jagged. For some reason that he don't know, it reminded him of the meeting with Vongola's First. He frowned at that memory. '...Why did I even met him..?'

His thoughts were broken when Shoichi walked towards the round device. The man place both of his hand on the device, as the part between it glowed. "I will now pass it to you" The core of the device started glowing, glittered, even, before it had opened up, revealing something that was glowing in orange. 

"Accept the power left to you by the Vongola boss from this era." 

Something coated with orange flame was shot out from the core and onto Tsuna's hands. It was a Box Weapon. A Sky Box Weapon.

Shoichi then turned towards Ryuuichi and gave him a nod. Ryuuichi raised an eyebrow at that. "And this, is a gift from Vongola Juudaime and Cavallone Juudaime, Ryuuichi-kun" Another one was shot out again, but coated with a mix of purple and yellow flame. He held out his hand and a box flaring both Cloud and Sun flame was on his palm.

It had the Vongola's crest on two side, whilst Cavallone's crest on the other two. He looked at it, slightly disbelieved. He pointed at the box, then at him as he gave Shoichi a look. If there's one thing that the others were able to read from his face, it would be, 

'What in the actual hell?'

"Me?" Shoichi nodded, a little sheepish despite the fact that he doesn't have to. "I believed that it was a belated birthday present...." Ryuuichi gave him a deadpanned look. Really, what's with them and presents. It was another weapon, again. Although, he like it. He had not expected it. Not to mention that he doesn't have one, which was a plus. 

"However, you still can't use that yet." Shoichi added, directing it to only the brunette. "Your Vongola Sky Ring can't open that box yet. You will need the seven Arcobaleno Seals for your Ring to open that box." 'Ah.. Right... But then...' Ryuuichi looked down onto his own box, and the ring in hand.

The box was a combination of the Cloud and Sun, and it probably wouldn't open if he just use a cloud or sun ring. Well, putting that aside, his ring was the real problem here. He had tried to lit it up before, but he couldn't. At first he had thought that it was because his resolution weren't strong enough, but it doesn't seem the case anymore. The restrains and the seal he had felt when he first got the ring was so heavy that he couldn't get use to it at first, but for some reason, it had loosen, lightened when he met Giotto. He thought that the Vongola Boss had released him from his seal, but apparently not. He still couldn't light it up no matter what.

"In order to draw out the full power of the Vongola Rings, you need to require the seven Arcobaleno seals."

But since in this era, all the Arcobaleno minus Reborn had died...

"You all need to go back ten years in time temporary" And overcome the Arcobaleno Trials and obtain the seals.

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It was a little bit unnerving that they were being stared at whilst working. Ryuuichi had decided to stay with them and settled on silently staring at them. Shoichi, who obviously could feel the stare boring holes on his back, couldn't stand it anymore. "Ryuuichi-kun? What's wrong?" Spanner lifted up his head and looked at them, wondering why Shoichi and Ryuuichi were chummy. He had never seen the teen, or his older self as the matter of fact, during their university life. 

"Before that, why not introduce me to him? I believe that we still haven't been acquainted" Spanner flushed a little, knowing that he had been found out. "Ah, sorry. Spanner, this is Shiroki Ryuuichi. I met him during a chess tournament in middle school" Spanner nodded.

"Ryuuichi-kun, this is Spanner." He raised an eyebrow at the brief introduction. Why did Shoichi didn't explain much? Ryuuichi chuckled when he noticed the man's puzzled look. "You met him in high school, and in University, and when you guys joined Milliefiore, am I right?"

Spanner blinked in surprise and nodded slowly while Shoichi sputtered. The latter didn't even mentioned about Spanner even once to Ryuuichi before. Ryuuichi simply chuckled again. "Resources~ Anyways" He turned serious, making Shoichi tensed up. He took out his ring and gave him.

"Have you seen this ring before?"

Shoichi pushed his spectacles up and inspected the ring. His eyebrows were furrowed. "No... But it certainly isn't a normal one... It's... Somewhat similar to the Vongola and Mare Rings....." Indeed, the ring is something foreign to him, but he could feel the power in it. It was comforting yet... Horrifying. He shuddered and quickly gave back the ring to Ryuuichi.

Ryuuichi made a questioning noise at the back of his throat when he saw the shudder. He looked at the ring, and at Shoichi and raised an eyebrow. 'What..?' He shook his head and loop the ring back onto his neck, suppressing a shiver at the feeling of cold metal against his skin. He sighed. "So I guess, my older self didn't say anything, at all?" The man shook his head.

He huffed, looking at Shoichi and Spanner with indifferent face, until something hit him. He grinned mischievously and so evilly that the other two shuddered in fear. He faked a sigh and stood up from his sitting spot. "Well then, I better get going. See you later~" He shoved his hands into his trousers and walked towards the exit, but stopped short.

"Oh, right. Don't do 'that' here, alright? It wouldn't be good since the kids and girls will come later. By the way~ I won't steal your Shoichi from you, Spanner~!!!" He quickly ran away, not bothering to turn back and look at the two sputtering and blushing men. He laughed out loud when he heard Shoichi shouted his name. 

"Ryuuichi-kun!!!!!!"

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As Ryuuichi was walking back to the base, alone, he remembered Yuuichi, his twin brother. He was fortunate that he was in camp during the period when he was in this era, which save him from having to explain anything. He couldn't imagine what would his brother do if he did knew that he had disappeared from that era.

He smiled. Even if it's just temporary, he could finally see him. He felt slightly annoyed that he couldn't meet Yuuichi in this era and despite that his older self had told him that he and his parents are save, that was just that. Perhaps he had grown too attached to them, that if they weren't at his sight, he would worry. But, isn't that just how he was? In addition, he felt that he's one step closer to his answer.

Ryuuichi looked up to the sky, still smiling. 'Things are going well, aren't they....' 

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A/N= Right. This is the last chapter for the Future Arc. Next, the fifth arc, Arcobaleno Trial Arc.

Although Gokudera trust Ryuuichi whole heartily, the situations and what had happened had deterred him from continuing believe him. Even though he knew that Ryuuichi wouldn't betray them, still...

According to the Reborn! Wikia, Spanner and Shoichi met when they're in High School in a.. Robot competition? And had worked together in the same department when they joined Milliefiore. Though, I had added the fact that they also went to the same university because, it just doesn't feel right if I didn't.

And by 'That', well, I believed that most of you knew what it was, right? *wink*

[I apologize for any grammars, spellings, etc.etc. mistakes]